Wednesday, 29 June 2016: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Indoor Environment: Health, Comfort, Productivity
Chair:
Kevin Kennedy, MPH, CIEC, MS, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
Technical Committee: Environmental Health Committee
With increasing interest by homeowners in the role environmental exposure in their home might play in the health and well-being of themselves and their families, how much do we know about the role indoor environmental exposure from the building sources serves in causing chronic health conditions vs. the role human activity plays in indoor exposure? Which is more important? This seminar includes experts on different aspects of this discussion. Come and learn about the significant and complicated role both play in health.
1 It Is Definitely You: The Role of Human Activities
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Jeffrey Siegel, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
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Dr. Jacobs presents information about studies of indoor environmental quality and health outcomes during weatherization and rehabilitation. The focus will be on building interventions and retrofits that result in reduced air contaminants, reduced moisture balance and improved self-reported health outcomes.
2 It’s You and Me Both: Lessons From IAQ Studies in Multifamily Housing
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Gary Adamkiewicz, Ph.D., Harvard School of Public Health |
Dr. Adamkiewicz presents evidence from studies of environmental exposures and health in multifamily housing to show how environmental problems cluster by site, reinforcing the roles of structure and ‘systems’ in shaping poor indoor environmental quality and health. He offers suggestions on where residents can make the biggest changes, and where ‘top down’ intervention is necessary.
3 Ventilation, Indoor Air and Health Outcomes
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Dave Jacobs |
Occupants are the cause of, and solution to, most residential indoor air quality problems. Thus any comprehensive approach to reduce exposure indoors has to address occupant activities and provide information for occupants to make good decisions. This presentation describes some of the major sources in US homes, including cooking, smoking and e-cigarettes, convenience combustion (e.g., candles), cleaning activities, use of consumer products, resuspension, and outdoor air. Each source is paired with strategies for mitigating exposure from that source. Data from field studies in single family and multifamily residences is used to provide context and specific examples of concentrations and emissions.
4 Ventilation, Indoor Air Quality and Where the CO Comes from
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Paul W. Francisco, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
This presentation provides results from several recent field studies on indoor air quality in residential retrofit. One focus of the session will be to examine the impact of newer ventilation standards on indoor concentrations of several contaminants indoors, including carbon dioxide, humidity, formaldehyde, radon, and VOCs. The second focus will be to review results from three studies that included an assessment of the source of elevated carbon monoxide in homes.